[WotMK: Hexcrawl] Session Thirty-Three
2017-Nov-14, Tuesday 08:50![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dorchadas
Dramatis Personae:
Willow rolled away as the shadowcrawlers leapt down on him, taking a superficial wound, and Elaphe ran past the enemies into the room. The party tried to use the light panels on the walls and floating light-seeds from Willow's sword to drive away the shadowcrawlers, but they seemed berserk, ignoring each of the wounds they took and continuing to attack. Even when Amos shot one in the eye, seriously injuring it, it didn't run. It wasn't until Shining Star bound two shadowcrawlers in chains that the third one backed off. Willow couldn't bring himself to kill the helpless shadowcrawler, writhing in the sorcerous chains of light, but Amos didn't have that problem. He shot it, and shot the third one as it ran. The party treated their wounds and spread out to search the room.
There was a large amount of debris scattered by the entrance to the pipe, and Elaphe picked up two small gems, a scattering of coins, and a heavily-gilded sword that didn't seem like it could stand up to actual battle, but would fetch a nice sum if they could sell it. Then, the party debated what to do. They briefly thought about entering the pipe, but eventually decided against it and instead thought to look through the portcullises on the western end of the room. They were all of one piece, seemingly carved of solid wood, and mindful of the possibility of them closing behind them after entering, Amos touched one and chanted a brief bit of hedge magic to set it on fire. Then, they sat down to wait, sitting quietly or resting for an over an hour while the door burned. Father James sent Hundred Wings to scout out the small hallway, and the spirit reported a body wearing armor at the end of a short corridor. Fearing a trap, Father James tossed Elaphe's grappling hook down the corridor and began pulling, and his cautious was proved justified when whips of flame emerged from the walls and seared the body and the rope. Father James retrieved the body using his sorcery, and Elaphe took the jade chain shirt off of it and put it away.
They had explored all the parts visible on their map but they knew there were still other areas, so they went back to the room with the fountain and took the door to the southeast. The corridor went on for about fifty feet and then ended, with a door to the left. Father James tapped it using his arms of wind and eventually pushed, forcing it open. No one responded to the noise, and so they filed in. The room was filled with benches, made from the same pearlescent stone as the exterior of the tower, with a rough-hewn granite altar in the center and something on top of it. After throwing a few stones in and not triggering any traps, the party entered the room and looked around.
Most of the room was empty, but Elaphe found something under one of the benches. A hardened, gelatinous mass, with several lumps of fossilized goo inside, punctured and deflated, that he refused to touch. On the altar was a pair of gloves, white fabric with lines of iridescent thread running through them, but before anyone touched them Shining Star asked them to wait and invoked Nyahré's blessing on the altar. She closed her eyes, glowed with a soft silvery light, and saw-
And we would have kept going except that battle against the shadowcrawlers took much longer than I expected. They kept dodging and, in contrast to nearly every other battle fought over the course of this game, the PCs kept rolling low. It's fortunate that Willow was wearing armor, because the shadowcrawlers clawed him several times while he was on the ground but every single attack after the first one just bounced off.
The PCs actually have a pretty nice selection of loot already, including some stuff that they might use in the future, and they elected to keep going further in. We'll see what else they find, and if their cautious approach will keep them out of danger!
- Shining Star, mandragora sorcerer-priestess of Nyahré.
- Father James, human disciple of the pidgit-folk.
- Hundred Wings, Father James' familiar spirit bound into the bodies of dozens of ravens.
- Willow, human treesinger raised in Taira.
- Amos Burnham, a human from Earth.
- Elaphe, a chuzan junior member of the Black Rose.
Willow rolled away as the shadowcrawlers leapt down on him, taking a superficial wound, and Elaphe ran past the enemies into the room. The party tried to use the light panels on the walls and floating light-seeds from Willow's sword to drive away the shadowcrawlers, but they seemed berserk, ignoring each of the wounds they took and continuing to attack. Even when Amos shot one in the eye, seriously injuring it, it didn't run. It wasn't until Shining Star bound two shadowcrawlers in chains that the third one backed off. Willow couldn't bring himself to kill the helpless shadowcrawler, writhing in the sorcerous chains of light, but Amos didn't have that problem. He shot it, and shot the third one as it ran. The party treated their wounds and spread out to search the room.
There was a large amount of debris scattered by the entrance to the pipe, and Elaphe picked up two small gems, a scattering of coins, and a heavily-gilded sword that didn't seem like it could stand up to actual battle, but would fetch a nice sum if they could sell it. Then, the party debated what to do. They briefly thought about entering the pipe, but eventually decided against it and instead thought to look through the portcullises on the western end of the room. They were all of one piece, seemingly carved of solid wood, and mindful of the possibility of them closing behind them after entering, Amos touched one and chanted a brief bit of hedge magic to set it on fire. Then, they sat down to wait, sitting quietly or resting for an over an hour while the door burned. Father James sent Hundred Wings to scout out the small hallway, and the spirit reported a body wearing armor at the end of a short corridor. Fearing a trap, Father James tossed Elaphe's grappling hook down the corridor and began pulling, and his cautious was proved justified when whips of flame emerged from the walls and seared the body and the rope. Father James retrieved the body using his sorcery, and Elaphe took the jade chain shirt off of it and put it away.
They had explored all the parts visible on their map but they knew there were still other areas, so they went back to the room with the fountain and took the door to the southeast. The corridor went on for about fifty feet and then ended, with a door to the left. Father James tapped it using his arms of wind and eventually pushed, forcing it open. No one responded to the noise, and so they filed in. The room was filled with benches, made from the same pearlescent stone as the exterior of the tower, with a rough-hewn granite altar in the center and something on top of it. After throwing a few stones in and not triggering any traps, the party entered the room and looked around.
Most of the room was empty, but Elaphe found something under one of the benches. A hardened, gelatinous mass, with several lumps of fossilized goo inside, punctured and deflated, that he refused to touch. On the altar was a pair of gloves, white fabric with lines of iridescent thread running through them, but before anyone touched them Shining Star asked them to wait and invoked Nyahré's blessing on the altar. She closed her eyes, glowed with a soft silvery light, and saw-
A series of indistinct figures, standing amidst the benches, chanting in a language she didn't understand.The vision faded and she told the others what she saw. Father James mentioned that this might be valuable knowledge to a sage or scholar of some kind, and since she hadn't seen anything immediately dangerous, Elaphe took the gloves. After a brief discussion and a look at their packs--most of the treasure they found was small and none of them were tired or seriously injured--they elected to keep going.
A figure raising a bowl over the altar and pouring it over itself.
Several figured gathered around the altar, seemingly engaged in a discussion.
A figure looking into a bowl on the altar, and then picking it up and hurling it across the room.
And we would have kept going except that battle against the shadowcrawlers took much longer than I expected. They kept dodging and, in contrast to nearly every other battle fought over the course of this game, the PCs kept rolling low. It's fortunate that Willow was wearing armor, because the shadowcrawlers clawed him several times while he was on the ground but every single attack after the first one just bounced off.
The PCs actually have a pretty nice selection of loot already, including some stuff that they might use in the future, and they elected to keep going further in. We'll see what else they find, and if their cautious approach will keep them out of danger!
